I have XM and love it. The minimal commercials is nice, but I really like the variety of stations. So much better than the crap on FM. In our area we have nothing but horrible pop/Top 40 stations, new country, and one classic rock station that is pretty bad.

RugbyD wrote:this event basically says to me that satellite radio is not viable yet as a commercial enterprise because it can't make money outside of a monopolistic environment.

I was thinking the same thing.

The problem is that the value added by not having commercials isn't enough to sustain the infrastructure required to operate the system.

The saddest part is- there are still commercials on the talk channels. Granted, it's only about 5-10 minutes every hour, but it chaps my hide that Sirius says they are 100% commercial free when they are not!

The music channels have no commercials, and Howard Stern only breaks for about 10 minutes out of every 90. However, the ESPN channel and the NFL channel do break somewhat frequently. Still, being able to listen to Howard on my way to work and Pardon the Interruption on the way home for my half hour commute makes it all worth it.

I'm paid up for the year, but I also just had my car added to my mother-in-law's account so I just pay her for the cost of having an extra radio on her account rather than the full single subscription price.

If I eventually had to pay $25 a month I probably would cancel. I can get Cubs games on AM radio here and I usually get the MLB Gameday Audio.

I personally do not like the merger. This is going me more because an Oligopoly has lower prices than a Monopoly. Sirius adds nothing useful to XM. NFL on the radio? Come on... My activities during an NFL game and driving are mutually exclusive (if you get my drift).

"I do not think baseball of today is any better than it was 30 years ago... I still think Radbourne is the greatest of the pitchers." John Sullivan 1914-Old athletes never change.

One of the consumer benefits the companies have cited is "more choices". The term "a la carte" gets thrown in once in a while. They also mention that XM listeners will be able to hear football and Sirius listeners will be able to hear baseball. I'm suspecting that when the merger happens, the music will be the basic subscription, and if we want to choose baseball, football, or both, we'll pay extra.